Hornets down Lakers; Kobe 5-for-20 from field
Snell scores 22 in Bulls’ win; Warriors improve to 29-1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kemba Walker scored 18 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter as the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 108-98 Monday night in Kobe Bryant’s final game against the team that drafted him — and promptly traded him — nearly 20 years ago.
Cody Zeller had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Hornets.
Bryant, who received a taped message from Hornets owner Michael Jordan before the game, finished with 20 points on 5-for-20 shooting. He had only three points in the second half.
Jordan didn’t attend Bryant’s final regular-season game in Charlotte, but congratulated him on an “unbelievable career” during a message that was played on the arena’s scoreboard before tip-off.
BULLS 104, RAPTORS 97: In Chicago, former UNM Lobo Tony Snell and Pau Gasol each had 22 points, and Derrick Rose added 20 as Chicago pulled away late for a victory over Toronto.
Snell, who was back in the rotation because of an injury to Doug McDermott, had 19 points in the final 17½ minutes to spark the Bulls.
Aaron Brooks had 17 points and rookie Bobby Portis added 12 as the Chicago reserves outscored Toronto’s 51-27.
WARRIORS 122, KINGS 103: In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Curry overcame a slow start to score 23 points as part of his sixth career triple-double, and Golden State won for the 29th time in 30 games this season in a victory over Sacramento.
Curry added a career-high 14 rebounds and 10 assists, Klay Thompson scored 29 and Draymond Green had 25 for the Warriors, who have won 33 straight regularseason home games.
Omri Casspi scored a career-high 36 points for Sacramento.
SPURS 101, TIMBERWOLVES 95: In San Antonio, Texas, Kawhi Leonard had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Boban Marjanovic also scored 17 as San Antonio remained undefeated at home by holding off Minnesota.
San Antonio joined the 1978 Portland Trail Blazers and 1986 Houston Rockets as the only Western Conference teams to open a season 18-0 at home.
JAZZ 95, 76ERS 91: In Salt Lake City, Gordon Hayward scored 24, including a 3-pointer that put Utah ahead for good.
The Jazz ended a two-game skid despite missing Derrick Favors and reserve Alec Burks. Philadelphia failed in its bid to win consecutive games for the first time this season after winning its second game on Saturday.
CAVALIERS 101, SUNS 97: In Phoenix, Kyrie Irving sank a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 21.9 seconds to play and Cleveland held on to hand Phoenix
its fifth loss in a row.
Brandon Knight’s 3-pointer cut Cleveland’s lead to 96-95 with 1:27 to go and, after LeBron James missed a jumper, Knight sank another 3 but it was waved off because of an offensive foul against the Suns’ Tyson Chandler.
MAGIC 104, PELICANS 89: In Orlando, Fla., Nik Vucevic scored 28 points as Orlando beat New Orleans.
Evan Fournier had 20 points, Tobias Harris added 14 and Andrew Nicholson scored 13 for the Magic.
MAVERICKS 103, BUCKS 93: In Dallas, Wesley Matthews scored 22 points, including two clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, as Dallas held off Milwaukee.
The Mavericks never trailed and led by as many as 13 points in the second half.
NETS 111, HEAT 105: In Miami, Wayne Ellington tied a career best with seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points, and Brook Lopez added 26 points and 12 rebounds as Brooklyn beat Miami after being down 16 points in the third quarter. Jarrett Jack scored 18 for the Nets.
CLIPPERS 108, WIZARDS 91: In Washington, Chris Paul scored 23 points and reserve Jamal Crawford added 21 as Los Angeles overcame Blake Griffin’s absence to beat Washington.
DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who got 54 points from the substitutes in their third straight win — the second since Griffin was ruled out for at least two weeks with a quadriceps strain.
PACERS 93, HAWKS 87: In Indianapolis, Monta Ellis scored 26 points as Indiana beat Atlanta, ending the Hawks’ sixgame winning streak.
Note
SUNS: Phoenix has fired assistant coaches Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting. Nate Bjorkgren was promoted to take Longabardi’s job as defensive coordinator. Assistant Earl Watson also was promoted to a bench coach position.
The overhaul of coach Jeff Hornacek’s staff comes after an embarrassing home loss to Philadelphia (2-30) on Saturday night.